Solid-state electronic circuit, image pickup element, method of controlling image pickup element, and electronic device

An image pickup element comprising:

• a plurality of transfer paths allowing bitwise transfer of a predetermined bit length of time code for use in conversion of a pixel signal corresponding to a quantity of light received in a pixel into a digital signal;
• a determination unit configured to directly determine presence or absence of abnormality in each of the transfer paths;
• and
• a replacement unit configured to replace the plurality of transfer paths for use in transfer of the predetermined bit length of time code, on a basis of a determination result of the determination unit,
• wherein
• the determination unit compares an expected value to a transfer result of transfer of predetermined data through the transfer paths and the transfer result of the predetermined data transferred through the transfer paths, to determine presence or absence of abnormality in each of the transfer paths,
• the plurality of transfer paths each includes a storage unit that stores the time code for the corresponding bit,
• in the transfer of the predetermined data through the transfer paths, the predetermined data is written in the storage units corresponding one-to-one to the transfer paths and additionally is transferred, and
• the determination unit compares the transfer result of the predetermined data transferred through the transfer paths and the expected value, to determine presence or absence of abnormality in each of the transfer paths,
• on the basis of the determination result, the replacement unit replaces a transfer path determined to have the abnormality with a transfer path of a time code for a bit low in priority in the predetermined bit length of time code among the plurality of transfer paths;
• and
• a randomizer configured to generate 0 or 1 randomly, wherein
• a time code output by the randomizer is output as a time code output through the transfer path of the time code for the bit low in priority in the predetermined bit length of time code.

An image pickup element comprising:

• a plurality of transfer paths allowing bitwise transfer of a predetermined bit length of time code for use in conversion of a pixel signal corresponding to a quantity of light received in a pixel into a digital signal;
• a determination unit configured to directly determine presence or absence of abnormality in each of the transfer paths;
• and
• a replacement unit configured to replace the plurality of transfer paths for use in transfer of the predetermined bit length of time code, on a basis of a determination result of the determination unit,
• wherein
• the determination unit compares an expected value to a transfer result of transfer of predetermined data through the transfer paths and the transfer result of the predetermined data transferred through the transfer paths, to determine presence or absence of abnormality in each of the transfer paths,
• the plurality of transfer paths each includes a storage unit that stores the time code for the corresponding bit, and
• in the transfer of the predetermined data through the transfer paths, after the predetermined data is written in the storage units corresponding one-to-one to the transfer paths, the predetermined data is read out and additionally is transferred, and the determination unit compares the expected value and a transfer result of the predetermined data read out and transferred through the transfer paths after the predetermined data is written in the storage units, to determine presence or absence of abnormality in each of the storage units corresponding one-to-one to the transfer paths.

An image pickup element comprising:

• a plurality of transfer paths allowing bitwise transfer of a predetermined bit length of time code for use in conversion of a pixel signal corresponding to a quantity of light received in a pixel into a digital signal;
• a determination unit configured to directly determine presence or absence of abnormality in each of the transfer paths;
• and
• a replacement unit configured to replace the plurality of transfer paths for use in transfer of the predetermined bit length of time code, on a basis of a determination result of the determination unit,
• wherein
• the determination unit compares an expected value to a transfer result of transfer of predetermined data through the transfer paths and the transfer result of the predetermined data transferred through the transfer paths, to determine presence or absence of abnormality in each of the transfer paths,
• the plurality of transfer paths each includes a storage unit that stores the time code for the corresponding bit, and
• the determination unit compares the expected value and a transfer result of the predetermined data transferred through the transfer paths to determine presence or absence of abnormality in each of the transfer paths, and then compares the expected value and a transfer result of the predetermined data read out and transferred through the transfer paths after the predetermined data is written in the storage units, to determine presence or absence of abnormality in each of storage units corresponding one-to-one to the transfer paths, and
• on the basis of the determination result, the replacement unit replaces a transfer path determined to have the abnormality and a storage unit corresponding to the transfer path, respectively, with a transfer path allowing transfer of a time code for a bit low in priority in the predetermined bit length of time code among the plurality of transfer paths and a storage unit corresponding to the transfer path.